Dioscin, a typical saponin, is widely present in the family of Dioscoreaceae, Liliaceae, Caryophyllaceae and Rosaceae, especially in Dioscoreaceae, including Discorea nipponica Makino, Dioscorea zingiberensis C. H. Wright and Dioscorea panthaica Prain et Burkill. Traditional Chinese medicine reported that dioscin plays a role in expectorant, relaxing the muscles and stimulating the blood circulation, aiding digestion and diuresis. With the development of science and technology in recent years, some new extraction and separation techniques and methods have been applied to the study of dioscin, and more and more pharmacological effects were found. Modern pharmacology studies have confirmed that dioscin had some activities on desensitization, anti-inflammatory, lipid-lowering, anti-tumor, hepatoprotection and anti-viral. After oral administration, dioscin is metabolized to diosgenin, which is the true active ingredient and is an important raw material to synthesize steroid hormone drugs. Therefore, the studies on dioscin are valueable and promising. In this review, we make a summary on the researches of dioscin including the extraction technology, separation and prepara- tion, chemical synthesis, drug metabolism, determination and pharmacological researches.
Animals ; Biological Products ; adverse effects ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Diosgenin ; adverse effects ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Plant Extracts ; adverse effects ; chemistry ; pharmacology

Objective To study the imaging manifestations and clinical significance of simple cochlear nerve canal(CNC)stenosis. Methods The HRCT findings of 14 patients(1 7 ears)with simple CNC stenosis diagnosed sensorineural hearing loss(SNHL)were retrospectively analyzed.The width of CNC and internal auditory canal was measured and compared with the normal ears,the data were statisti-cally analyzed by SPSS1 6.0.Thin-sliced MRI of internal auditory canal (axial and oblique sagittal position)was performed in 8 cases. Results HRCT displayed obvious CNC stenosis in all 14 patients(1 7 ears),2 ears with cochlear nerve canal atresia.Width of CNC and internal auditory canal was (0.5±0.3)mm and (4.6±1.0)mm,it was (2.1±0.2)mm and (5.1 ±1.3)mm in normal ears (1 1 ears),the width of CNC was of significant difference between normal ears and ears with SNHL,and there was no statistical sig-nificant difference in width of internal auditory canal.12 ears(from 1 7 ears with simple CNC stenosis)were lacking of fissure in the cribriform area,1 1 ears(normal ear)were existence of fissure in the cribriform area;cochlear nerves were not shown in 8 patients with MRI examination.Conclusion CNC stenosis can be isolated from internal auditory canal stenosis,MRI could display cochlear nerve dysplasia(CND).

Family Schisandraceae is composed of two genera Schisandra and Kadsura, which are quite different in regard to the used part and medical function. Traditionally, the fruits of Schisandra plants were called 'Wuweizi' used as tonic for neurasthenia, antitussive, and sedative agents. The stems and roots of Kadsura plants, with names related to 'XueTeng', possess activating blood circulation and eliminating stasis and are used for the treatment of rheumatism, fractures and irregular menstruation. The dried fruit of Schisandra chinensis was recorded in Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010 Edition) as 'Wuweizi', while the dried fruit of S. sphenanthera was recorded as an official origin of 'Nanwuweizi'. Historically, there was no evidence that the fruits of Kadsura plants were substituted as 'Wuweizi' either in ancient literatures or contemporary marketing. However, genus Kadsura is still popularly called 'Nanwuweizi' and plant K. longipedunculata is regarded as the origin of 'Nanwuweizi', thus this will cause confusion as well as misunderstanding of genus Kadsura. The authors recommended, therefore, the Chinese name of genus Kadsura should be 'Lengfantengshu' and K. longipedunculata with the name of 'Lengfanteng' in order to guarantee the drug authenticity.

Objective To investigate the value of prostate-bladder angle (PBA) measured by MRI in the diagnosis of benign prostate obstruction (BPO). Methods A retrospective analysis was carried out on 87 benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients referred for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) between March 2009 and November 2009. PBA was measured by MRI and urodynamic parameter Qmax was measured as well. With the diagnostic criteria of BPO as Qmax＜10 ml/s, the patients were divided into two groups: obstruction group and non-obstruction group. PBA was compared between these two groups. The sensitivity and the specificity of PBA in diagnosing BPO were also analyzed. Results The age range of the patients was 57-90 years with a median age 73 years; Qmax was 2.325.4 ml/s with median Qmax 7.9 ml/s; PBA was 4°-52° with median PBA 27°. There were 25 patients in the non-obstruction group with PBA between 4°- 21°(13°); in the obstruction group,there were 62 patients with PBA between 15°- 52°(34°). PBA was found statistically different between the obstruction and non-obstruction group (P＜0.01). With the cutoff at PBA≥20°for the diagnosis of BPO, the sensitivity and specificity of the diagnosis were 90. 3 % (56/62)and 96.0% (24/25), respectively. Conclusion PBA measured by MRI is valuable and can be used as a new non-invasive parameter in the diagnosis of BPO.

This study established a finite element (FE) model of human body head (HBM-head) in accordance with human head anatomy.The anatomical structure of HBM-head was described in detail,primarily consisting of scalp,skull,dura mater,cerebrospinal fluid,pia mater,cerebrum,cerebellum,ventricle,brain stem,falx,and tentorium.The kinematic and kinetic responses,as well as the intracranial pressure distribution of the head model were compared with the data from the cadaveric impact tests to validate the head FE model.Experimental results confirmed that the head FE model had good biofidelity and could be used to study head-brain trauma in vehicle collisions and the underlying injury mechanisms.

Objective: To study the chemical constituents in the dry roots of Dolomiaea souliei (Franch.) Shih.Methods: Various chromatographic methods were used to isolate and purify the chemical constituents of Dolomiaea souliei, and the structures were elucidated through the analysis of spectral data and literatures.Results: Six compounds including 3 sesquiterpene compounds and 3 fatty acids were obtained and identified as dihydrodehydrocostuslactone(Ⅰ), vladimenal(Ⅱ), arbusculin A(Ⅲ), n-hendecane(Ⅳ), butanedioic acid(Ⅴ) and methyl linoleate(Ⅵ).Conclusion: Compounds Ⅳ-Ⅵ are obtained from the genus of Dolomiaea for the first time.

Objective To investigate the influences of anesthetic meltod on setting up the animal model of orthotopic liver transplantation(OLT) in rats, in order to properly select the anesthetic method. Methods OLT was performed by modified two-cuff technique in Sprague Dawley rats. 100 rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: control group, ether group, ketamine group, chloral hydrate group and pentobarbital group. The anesthetic process, the influences of anesthetic method on physiologic parameters and hepatic function, and the mortality during anhepatic phase of each group were observed. Results The anesthetic process of each anesthetic method was different,ether anesthesia had fewer impacts on physiologic parameters, and the pentobarbital had great hepatotoxicity. High mortality happened in ketamine group, chloral hydrate group and pentobarbital group during anhepatic phase, while no animal died in ether group. Conclusions Each anesthetic method has significant influences on the OLT rat. Ether anesthesia has fewer effects on physiologic parameters and liver function, and has low mortality during anhepatic phase of OLT rats.So it is the best anesthetic method in setting up the animal model of OLT in rats.

Objective To evaluate the value of dual-phase spiral CT scanning in diagnosis of small pancreatic carcinoma.Methods 21 cases with small pancreatic carcinoma (≤2 cm) underwent plain CT scan and dual-phase eahanced spiral CT including arterial phase(20~25 s after infusion)and pancreatic phase(50~60 s after infusion)with a 100 ml bolus injection of contrast material at 3~6 ml/s.CTattenuation values of tumor and normal pancreas in all scanning phase were obtained.Results The mean CT value of tumor was(42?14) HU(arterial phase)and (48?18) HU(pancreatic phase),the mean CT value of normal pancreas was (105?15) HU(arterial phase)and (86?11) HU(pancreatic phase).The dens difference of tumor-pancreas was significantly on arterial phase (69?15) HU.Conclusion The maximum dens difference of tumor-pancreas can be obtained on arterial phase CT scan,it has advantages in diagnosing pancreatic carcinoma of early period and to judge the resectionability of pancreatic carcinoma.

Objective To evaluate the effects of locking calcaneal plate in the treatment of SandersⅢ～Ⅳcalcaneal fractures.Methods 15 feet of 12 patients of SandersⅢ～Ⅳcalcaneal fractures received the treatment of internal fixation reduction with locking calcaneal plate and hone graft.Results All the patients were followed up for 4 to 21 months(average 11 months) with the results that according to Maryland foot score,4 feet were reported ex- cellent,6 good,1 average and 1 poor,with total excellent and good rate of 83.3 %.Conclusion Using locking cal- caneat plate in the treatment of complicated calcaneal fractures was proved to be a good method and had satisfactory effects.

Objective To construct the lentivirus carrying human ?-catenin-EGFP(enhanced green fluorescent protein)and observe its expression in human follicle stem cells.Methods The ?-catenin gene sequence was amplified by RT-PCR from extraction of total RNA of human vascular endothelial cells.TA cloning technique was utilized to acquire gene subcloned pUCm-T-?-catenin.After transformation reaction,candidate clone was further analyzed by PCR and gene sequencing.Then the plasmid was transfected into FT293 cells.After identification by Western blotting,the plasmid was transfected into FT293 cells again for packaging.Infection titer was monitored by green EGFP expression.The expression of ?-catenin-lentivirus in human follicle stem cells were observed under inverted fluorescence microscope.Results The ?-catenin gene was cloned into the lentivirus successfully.The high expression of green fluorescence protein in FT293 cell line was found under fluorescent microscope.Viral titer checked by real-time PCR was about 2.0?108 TU/mL.When the multiplicity of infection(MOI)was 10,the infection efficiency of ?-catenin-lentivirus in human follicle stem cells was nearly 80% after infection 48 h around.After 3 weeks of continuous observation,we found the infection efficiency still keeping in the range of 80%-90%.Conclusion The lentivirus expression vector for ?-catenin was successfully constructed.It can steadily infect human follicle stem cells and the infection efficiency is considerable high.